


Money Can't Buy You A Childhood

by WrittenbyTristan



Category: Voltron - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, M/M, Modern Setting, Secret Relationship, klance, shallura - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-20 20:04:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9510917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrittenbyTristan/pseuds/WrittenbyTristan
Summary: It's Christmas vacation, Shiro is going home to visit his family and friends, and he's bringing his new girlfriend. As he's visiting, Shiro discovers new things about Allura, and finds out that two of his friends have started to secretly date and are having problems.





	

Saturday, December 3rd

11:36 AM

"I swear, Allura. You have nothing to worry about. Shiro's parents like everyone. Who you really should be worried about is our friends. They're really gonna tear into you," Matt spoke from the back of the car, a smirk playing on his lips as he teased his friend, "I mean, Hunk will be fine. My sister may humiliate you. Lance is just..." Matt paused to let out a sigh, "Lance is... Lance." 

Allura raised an eyebrow. "Lance is Lance?" She asked, turning around to make sure Matt saw her confused expression.

"You'll get it when you meet him." Shiro said as he joined in with Matt, letting out a deep sigh of his own. Shiro thought about his friends as he drove. He wasn't worried about Pidge, and was sure Keith would behave. He didn't even have to think about Hunk, he knew that his friend would be kind. Shiro wasn't worried about Lance being annoying, he was more worried that would be jealous. Lance had been crushing on Shiro for the majority of last year, and while most didn't notice it, Shiro could tell.

He was flattered, but Shiro didn't think that way about Lance. Lance never acted on it besides staring and a few accidental falls that resulted in some convenient touching, so Shiro never said anything. He didn't want to put Lance on blast, and Lance clearly wasn't comfortable or confident enough to confess anything. 

"Keith should be fine. Now that I think about it, unless Katie acts up Lance is your only problem." Matt said as he scratched his chin. 

"Keith is your brother, right?" Allura asked as she switched her gaze from Matt to Shiro. 

"Yep. My family adopted him last year. He was my friend before that. Keith's parents died when he was young, and he'd been between families ever since. When I met him he was with this really awful family, and they were going to kick him out. If they did that, he was gonna be sent somewhere else, and we would lose him. Adopting him was actually my parents idea." As Shiro finished talking, they pulled in to Shiro's driveway. Everyone was going to meet at his parents house so everyone could meet each other at the same time.

As they got out of the car and Matt grabbed their bags from the back, Allura stared up at the house. It had two stories and was painted a pleasant blue color. Allura didn't know why, but her heart was pounding hard enough for her to feel without a hand on her chest, and there was a lump in her throat that was making it hard to breathe. Why was she nervous? She'd heard nothing but good things about Shiro's parents, and she wasn't scared of a kid that makes bad puns. Shiro glanced over to her and saw that her eyes were locked on the house, and a hand was over her heart.

"Hey. Are you ok?" Shiro asked, a concerned expression on his face.

"I... yeah. I'm just a little nervous." She assured Shiro, forcing a smile on to her face. Shiro frowned and put a hand on her cheek. Allura closed her eyes and started trying to steady her breathing.

"It'll be fine, Allura. I swear on my grave, my parents will love you. You have nothing to worry about." Shiro switched his frown to a sympathetic smile. Allura took a deep breath and let out a sigh. When she opened her eyes, a real smile was on her lips. 

"Thank you, Shiro. I'm fine now," She said, "You're meeting my father after this. Consider it payback for the panic attack I just had." Allura said with a teasing smile as she poked Shiro's chest. 

Shiro chuckled and put an arm around Allura's shoulders. He planted a kiss on her forehead as they walked up to the house. Behind them, Matt made a puking noise and hauled his suitcase behind him. Shiro rolled his eyes at Matts disgust, while Allura shot her friend a dirty look. 

They all approached the front porch, their luggage in hand. 

"Do you want me to stand in between you two? Kinda run interference with the parents." Matt asked with a smirk, wiggling his eyebrows at them. 

"My parents won't ask if we're... um..." Shiro rubbed the back of his neck as color rushed to his cheeks. 

"If we're having sex?" Allura offered. 

"Yeah..." Shiro said almost silently.

"Great!" Matt said cheerfully and rang the doorbell. 

"I'll get it!" They heard Lance yell from inside. Next they heard his heavy footsteps on the floor, then a loud crash. "Ow..." they heard him groan.

"Idiot..." They heard Pidge mutter as she stepped over his body and opened the door. "Matt!" Pidge yelled as she wrapped her arms around her brothers waist. 

"Hey, Katie," Matt said as he wrapped his arms around her, "This is Allura, by the way." Matt pointed up towards Allura. 

"Hey. I'm Katie, but you can call me Pidge," She shook Allura's hand and looked up towards Shiro, "Hey, Shiro. Lance is on the ground, and everyone else is upstairs." She said as she lightly kicked Lance with her heel.

"Hi, Lance." Shiro said as he awkwardly waved at his friend on the floor. 

"Hey, Shiro..." Lance groaned from the floor. 

Loud footsteps from multiple people could be heard coming down the stairs. Keith, Hunk, and the parents all came down the stairs, all their greetings mushing together into one big blob of sound. Matt and Shiro both went to hug their parents and greet their other friends, leaving Allura standing awkwardly by the door. 

"Hey. I'm Hunk." Allura shook hands with Hunk, grateful for someone to speak to so she didn't look so awkward. 

"Hi. I'm Allura." She responded as they shook hands. 

"Shiro's new girlfriend, right? It's nice to meet you." 

"So... I don't want to make this weird, but do you have any advice for Shiro's parents?" Allura asked, glancing nervously at Shiro hugging his parents. 

"Oh yeah, of course. Laugh at Ren's jokes, and talk up Shiro to Rikona. Shiro's dad likes to make jokes, especially if there's an awkward silence. Rikona just likes hearing that Shiro is a good kid." 

"Oh! Mom, Dad. This is my girlfriend, Allura," Shiro gestured for Allura to come over to him and his parents. Allura nodded a thank you to Hunk and went over to meet Shiro's parents. "Allura, these are my parents." 

"It's so nice to meet you. I've heard so many nice things about you." Allura said as she shook both of their hands. Rikona Shirogane was a short yet athletic woman. Her black hair was cut short, going just below her jaw, and her bangs covered about half of her forehead. Shiro had her strong cheekbones and jaw, along with her nose, but the rest belonged to Shiro's father. 

Allura thought Shiro was tall when she first met him; he towered over everyone in their class. Ren Shirogane, however, made his son look like a man of average height. Ren and Shiro shared mouths and eyes, and very similar skin tones. While Shiro had a more defined jaw and cheekbones, Ren still had very strong facial features. Ren's hair was slowly graying, though it was doing so gracefully and wasn't noticeable. 

Allura shook hands with them both, putting on her most charming smile. 

"It's very nice to meet you Allura. We've heard a lot about you ourselves." Rikona said with a wink. Allura turned her gaze to Shiro, raising an eyebrow as Shiro started to turn red.

"Our son is very smitten with you, Allura. You're usually all he talks about when we talk," Ren spoke up. Allura smirked in amusement as Shiro turned redder by the minute. Ren clapped his son's back and let out a laugh. "It's all right, son. I was the same way with your mother." 

"This is Keith!" Shiro suddenly blurted out, grabbed Keith by the arm and dragging him into Allura's line of sight. 

"Ow... I'm Keith." Keith held out his right hand to Allura, while he used his left hand to pry his brothers fingers off of his arm. 

"Hello, Keith. I'm Allura." The handshake was brief. As soon as it started, Lance was right next to Keith. 

"Hi there. The name's Lance." Lance had a charming smirk on his lips, and his eyes had a suggestive look in them. Instead of shaking her hand like everyone else she met, Lance kissed her hand. Allura normally would've punched a stranger who kissed her hand in their first minute of knowing each other, but Allura knew she was going to be spending time with the cuban boy for at least a month. Allura reluctantly forced a look of surprise instead of glaring at him.

Keith elbowed Lance in the ribs, causing both boys to glare at each other. Allura glanced over at Shiro, who looked confused at the two boys interaction. 

"You three must be tired. Lance, Hunk, you're both invited to join us and the holts for dinner tonight." Said Rikona. Her voice rose to an overpowering volume that demanded attention. Allura couldn't help but be impressed that a woman of her size could be that loud when she wanted to.

"Here, let me help you with your bags." Ren said with a smile. Allura thanked him with a nod and handed him her suitcase. Allura and Shiro said their goodbyes to everyone as Ren took all their bags upstairs. Keith waved goodbye and headed upstairs, while Rikona immediately started asking Allura if she needed anything. 

"Coffee, tea, cocoa?" Rikona asked, heading into the kitchen and grabbing a mug for Allura. 

"Actually, Mrs. Shirogane, I was hoping I could take a nap. We've been on the road for days, and I kind of miss the feel of a bed." 

"Did you not stop in motels?" 

"We... just slept in the car." Shiro interrupted. 

"Well, all right. You two head up stairs. No funny business." Rikona said with a teasing smirk.

"Mom!" Shiro yelled as his cheeks started to turn red again. 

"I... of course, Mrs. Shirogane." Allura said timidly, a blush of her own on her cheeks. Shiro and Allura headed towards the stairs, keeping a respectful distance, both well aware that Rikona's teasing eyes were still on them. 

"See. That was painless, wasn't it? I told you, Princess. Nothing to worry about." Shiro said with a smirk. Allura playfully punched Shiro in the arm, a reluctant smile on her lips. When they reached the top of the stairs, Ren was coming out of the room on the left. 

"Why were you in Keith's room?" Shiro asked

"Oh. When you moved out, Keith moved into your room. I was just setting up his room for you two." Said Ren.

"What? Why?" Shiro asked, a his voice cracking a little bit.

"Oh come on, Shiro. Why would we keep Keith in the small room?" Ren asked

"I know, I know. It's just..." Shiro started, but Allura interrupted before he could complain.

"It's fine, Mr. Shirogane. Thank you." Allura and Shiro went into the room after assuring Ren that they'd be awake for dinner in a few hours. 

"What's the big deal with the rooms?" Allura asked after Ren's footsteps had faded out of earshot. 

"It may sound dumb, but I kinda wanted to show you where I grew up. I mean, my stuff isn't even in the new guest room. It's probably in a storage unit." Shiro said, sighing in defeat.

"Well, at least I'm still in your childhood home. Now c'mon, I'm tired." Allura said, taking Shiro's hand and guiding him to the bed. They both crawled under the covers, with Shiro draping his arms around Allura. Allura rested her head oh Shiro's chest, placing her hands on his chest. Shiro rested his chin on top of Allura's head, softly tightening his embrace and taking a small breath through his nose. Shiro felt his eyes start to flutter, the hours of driving catching up with him. He let his heavy eyelids over power him, and drifted into sleep.

Saturday,December 3rd

4:27 PM

"Ugh." Shiro groaned when a violently loud alarm went off in his ear. Shiro looked down at the mess of limbs spread across his body that was Allura. During their sleep, Shiro had remained mostly the same. Allura, however, went from gracefully curled up in Shiro's arms to sprawled out on half of him. On of her legs was stretched as far as it could, while the other was curled in. One of her arms was behind her back in a position that made it look like someone was handcuffing her. Her other arm was stretched far, and her palm was open against Shiro's cheek. 

Both of them groaned in annoyance as they got up. Allura rolled off of the bed and started to stretch, while Shiro turned off the alarm on his phone. 

"Ok. We have an hour until we have to go." Shiro said as he got up to stretch. They both walked out of the room, yawning and itching. Neither of the them changed before sleeping, so they were both in t-shirts and jeans. 

"Ugh. I don't know about you, but I stink. I'm gonna shower." Shiro said, putting his nose to his armpits. 

"Sounds good. I'll join you." Allura said nonchalantly, going back into the room for their cloths. Shiro smirked softly, shaking his head lightly.

"Shall we?" Allura asked, walking into the bathroom and gesturing for her boyfriend to follow.

Saturday, December 3rd

4:33 PM

Keith closed the door to his room and threw his body onto the bed. He opened Skype and called his other three friends. They all picked up pretty quickly, especially Lance, who picked up after five seconds. 

"Hey Keith, what's up?" The Cuban asked as his other friends joined the call.

"Ugh. Guys, Shiro is having sex." Keith groaned, putting his fingers in his ears.

"How can you be sure?" Hunk asked.

"Well his girlfriend joined him in the shower, and I share a wall with the bathroom. Taking a shower isn't that fun." Keith said, taking one finger out of his ear. Lance burst into laughter and Hunk and Pidge chuckled a bit.

"It's not funny, guys! I'm traumatized!" Keith yelled

"Oh relax. It's just Shiro. It's not like you're hearing-" before Lance could finish, Keith cut him off

"Don't say it." Keith warned. 

"-your real brother." Lance finished. Keith groaned in annoyance.

"He's like a real brother to me, and even if he wasn't, I don't wanna listen to Shiro having sex." Keith scowled, wincing at a moan he was unfortunate enough to hear.

"Wait, why are they showering?" Hunk asked

"Because people shower every day, Hunk." Pidge answered.

"Nah. They just wanted to do it.” Lance offered as another answer. 

Keith scowled. "No, because we're all going to that all you can eat Korean place in an hour." 

"Shit. I forgot to ask my parents about that. Gotta go!" Lance hung up, leaving them to the Skype call. 

"See you guys in an hour." Hunk said as he hung up. 

"Bye Keith." Pidge said quickly after Hunk left. 

Keith heard the water stop running and sighed in relief. "Finally." He muttered under his breath.

Saturday, December 3rd

5:44 PM

"Hey. Almost ready?" Shiro asked, leaning against the door frame and crossing his arms. 

"Almost. Just give me a moment," Allura answered, running a comb through her hair. "Done." Allura got up from the bed and started putting her hair up into a ponytail. Allura had chosen to wear a grey sweater and jeans, along with winter boots. Shiro went with a purple button up shirt and jeans. 

"Let's go." Said Shiro. Allura grabbed her large puffy coat, a scarf, and earmuffs from her suitcase, while Shiro grabbed a beanie and his own jacket. They both left the room and headed downstairs. When they got downstairs, Keith, Rikona, and Ren were waiting for them, all wearing snow coats themselves. 

"Everyone ready?" Rikona asked. 

"Yep," Shiro answered. "Is everyone else meeting us there?" 

"Yeah. Hunk and Lance are carpooling with the Holts." Rikona answered as she opened the door for everyone. Everyone trudged out to the snow. The white powder was currently falling from the sky, adding to the inches of snow already covering the ground. They headed towards the car and took off for the restaurant. Ren and Rikona occupied the front seats, while Shiro, Allura, and Keith were stuffed in the back. Keith, being the smallest, was stuffed into the middle seat between the two college students. He sat there uncomfortably, the things he heard still fresh in his memory. Allura and Shiro were completely oblivious to Keith's attitude and made polite conversation with Rikona and Ren. 

Saturday, December 3rd

6:27 PM

"Oh, I see everyone else." Shiro pointed to the large group of people walking across the parking lot. Lance waved joyfully, tapping Pidge on shoulder. Pidge swatted Lance's hand in response 

"Oh thank god..." Keith muttered under his breath.

"Did you say something?" Shiro asked. 

"Nope." Keith answered a little too quickly. After they parked, Shiro opened the door and got out of the car. Keith practically tumbled out of the car after Shiro, looking relieved to finally be out of the tight space. 

"Hey!" Lance yelled, jogging over to meet them. "What's up?" He asked, putting a hand on Keith's shoulder. 

"Oh nothing. Just sat in the middle of Shiro and Allura." Keith answered as he made an uncomfortable face. Lance burst into laughter, bending over and putting a hand on his knee, while his other hand remained on Keith's shoulder. 

"What?" Shiro asked defensively.  
Keith shook his head at Lance, his eyes sending him a silent message. Stop talking.

"Oh. Oh," Lance rubbed the back of his head. "It's nothing, Shiro." Lance answered. The two boys headed towards the restaurant with everyone else, leaving Shiro to try and figure out what they were talking about. 

 

Saturday, December 3rd

6:40

“Table for…” Ren stopped to count everyone in the group. “eleven.” 

“Ok. Follow me, we actually have a party table available.” The waitress said in a bubbly tone, a smile on her face that looked like it was forced on through surgery. She led them to the middle of the restaurant and seated them at a long table with multiple grills in the middle. They all sat down, taking in the powerful smell the restaurant offered.

“Ok, here's how this works,” The waitress said, putting a hand on her hip. “So you order in rounds here. You order four meats for each round and then cook them on the grill. After you're done, you order another round of meat. Sound good?” Everyone nodded. “So, we have three sizes. Everyone will have to order the same size, it's restaurant policy. The cheapest size gives you three meats per round. The medium size will give you four meats per round. The most expensive will give you five meats, and you can order seafood.” After she finished, everyone paused to think and talked among themselves. 

“We'll take the one with the seafood.” Rikona answered when they were done talking. 

“Ok. I will be back in a few minutes after you've looked over the menu.” The waitress said with a smile. Shiro glanced over to the other side of the table, where Keith and Lance were sitting next to each other. Lance was whispering something with a look on his face, and Keith had a reluctant smile on his face. Keith looked up and saw Shiro staring at them. As soon as they made eye contact, they both looked away quickly.

Time to put some of Hunk’s advice to good use. Allura thought to herself. “So, Mrs. Shirogane. You've really raised a wonderful son. He's a perfect gentleman,” Allura said, glancing over to Hunk who was giving her a thumbs up. 

“Why thank you, Allura. I hope Shiro has treated you well,” Rikona said, glancing over at her son who was looking over the menu with Matt. “I try my best.” 

“I assure you, you did an amazing job.” Allura said with a smile.

“What about you, Allura?” Rikona asked. “Who are your parents? They certainly raised a respectful young woman themselves.” Allura’s expression saddened. She never enjoyed talking about her parents, and certainly didn't wanna discuss them with people she had just met earlier that day. 

“I… my mother died when I was very young. Cancer,” Allura took a deep breath, staring down at her hands in her lap so she could avoid the sympathetic stares. The ones with pity in them. “My father means well, but he wasn't around much after that. He kind of threw himself into his work, and I was raised more by the servants than him.” Shiro stopped talking to Matt and looked over to Allura. 

“You never told me that.” Shiro said softly, his expression matching the same sympathetic one that Allura was so used to getting, and that she hated with a burning passion.

“I didn't realize, I had to, Shiro,” Allura snapped. “I'm sorry,” she said as she realized everyone was staring at her. “Can we talk about something else?” She muttered softly.

“I heard a joke today.” Ren said after almost thirty seconds of silence.

“Honey, no.” Rikona said, putting a hand on Ren’s and shaking her head. 

“Actually, I could go for a joke.” Allura said with a soft smile.

Saturday, December 3rd

9:45 PM

“I'm sorry for snapping at you.” Allura said as Shiro closed the door to his room. He was in a black tank top and boxers, while Allura was wearing one of his T-shirts that was too small on him now and pajama pants. 

“It's fine,” Shiro sighed, sitting down next to her and taking her hand in his. “I shouldn't have responded that way.”

“There was nothing wrong with how you responded. I was just a bit on edge,” Allura admitted, drawing patterns on her knee with her finger. “I've never told anyone about that, you know. It was nothing personal. I just don't talk about myself.” 

“Are you gonna be ok?” Shiro asked.

“I will be. Let's just go to sleep.” Allura answered. Shiro kissed her forehead and turned off the lamp. They both crawled under the covers and let themselves drift off into their dreams.


End file.
